


i’ll be home for christmas

by peterandhispirate



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Couch Cuddles, Kissing, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Reunions, TOPFL Christmas Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 10:24:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17098832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peterandhispirate/pseuds/peterandhispirate
Summary: The most Josh expects from Tyler is a Christmas dick pic - maybe a phonecall if he’s lucky.





	i’ll be home for christmas

Josh hadn't seen Tyler in at least six months. And that wasn't unusual, really. Sure, they had texted and sent nudes and talked on the phone, but Tyler hadn't touched him, hadn't fucked him, hadn't run shaky fingers through his hair - the shit that counted. The shit that _mattered_.

(Tyler had assured him that he didn't really mind if Josh got with other dudes while they were apart. But Josh was loyal. Painfully fucking loyal. He didn't _want_ other dudes. He wanted Tyler's stupid laugh, and Tyler's stupid jokes, and Tyler's stupid arms wrapped around him. Because nobody could hold him like Tyler held him.)

So Josh waited. He worked long shifts. He jogged. He volunteered at animal shelters. Waiting, waiting, waiting. He was always standing by for other people, it seemed, even if those people could care less where he ended up.

Tyler cared. He had to care. Josh didn't know what he would do if he didn't.

Considering the hundred-plus days since their last hookup (Tyler hated the term _reunion_ ), Josh had more or less resigned himself to a Christmas alone, in his apartment, watching those shitty old stop-motion movies and possibly crying.

Tyler had made him weepy. He'd always been emotional - sensitive, feeling too much - but never weepy. Never an easy crier. And now he cried all the time.

"I think you should break up with him," Ashley was always telling him over the phone, but how do you cut it off with someone who barely qualifies as a boyfriend?

Who _was_ Tyler, anyway? How did he fit into the scheme of Josh's sad little life? What role could he possibly play? Was he a punishment or some kind of fucked up reward? Josh didn't know. He didn't know, and it killed him. Sometimes he wondered if God was trying to teach him patience. But Josh had always been patient. Too patient. It was going to kill him one day.

Tyler was going to kill him one day.

Despite all of this, Josh tried his best to get into the holiday spirit - after all, he loved Christmas (used to love it?) and Tyler or no Tyler, he was putting up some shitty Dollar Tree decorations and listening to Michael Bublé. And it was with Santa Baby blaring in the background that he answered the knock on his door.

Tyler was beautiful, all fluffy-haired and grinning. Tyler still hadn't gotten his teeth fixed, and Josh was so fucking glad. Tyler was saying, "Hey."

"Hey." Josh was shaking. Why? Why was he on the brink of collapse all the time? This was a good thing. This was _good_. "I- _hey_. Holy shit."

"Nice hair," Tyler said, reaching out to ruffle the mess of green curls. Josh hadn't really expected him to say Merry Christmas. He hadn't expected any of this. "Very festive."

"I, uh. Yeah. Thanks." Josh didn't know how Tyler could touch him so easily, so thoughtlessly, even after all this time.

"So can I come in, or..?" Tyler trailed off, both eyebrows raised, and Josh nodded almost frantic - like he was scared the dude would vanish into thin air if he didn't move fast enough. He stepped aside as if he was making way for a king, and Tyler moved past him with that same assertive energy he carried around everywhere. Thesame energy that had made Josh fall in love with him, because he needed someone who had answers. Someone who knew what to do and when to do it. Someone like Tyler.

That's what Josh had assumed, anyway. Now he wasn't so sure. He hated not being sure.

"Cute lil' holiday setup you've got here," Tyler said while wandering further into the apartment, hands in his pockets and nodding at the cheap decorations. "Who helped you hang this shit up?"

Translation: _what_ _greasy_ _Grindr_ _dude_ _has_ _been_ _fucking_ _you?_

"Uh, no one," Josh mumbled, trailing after him like a lost puppy. Typical of Tyler to make him feel lost in his own home.

"Really? That's impressive." For a good twelve seconds, Tyler was eerily quiet. That was before he eyed Josh and said,"You're not mad at me, are you? I know it's been awhile."

"M'not mad," Josh insisted, which was more or less the truth. "Just happy you're here. Like, super happy."

Tyler's black coffee eyes softened like butter left out on the kitchen counter. "Yeah?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah."

Tyler took that as an invitation to move closer, reaching up to cup Josh's lost puppy face with hands that were soft, hands that were gentle, hands that were safe. Josh liked soft. He liked gentle. He liked safe. So he let his eyes glide shut, leaning into Tyler's touch with a helpless little sigh.

Tyler was going to kill him.

"I thought about you, J," Tyler was murmuring, the pads of his thumbs tracing feather-light kisses against Josh's cheeks. "Thought about you all the time."

"Dreamed about you," Josh whispered, opening his eyes to give him a half-lidded, love-drunk look. His voice was cracking at the edges. "Missed you. So much."

"I know, baby. I know."

And Josh knew Tyler hated hugs, but he couldn't help it: he wrapped his arms around him, held him tight, buried his face in his neck, and Tyler could only hum; stroke Josh's hair.

"Whaddaya say we do something fun, huh?" Tyler suggested after gently easing himself out of Josh's grip.

"Like what?" Josh asked, borderline sniffling.

Tyler had made him weepy.

"I dunno. Whatever you want."

Josh blinked, and chewed on his bottom lip, and said, "Can we just watch a movie or something? I really want to... you're gonna make fun of me, but-"

"If you're trying to ask if we can cuddle, the answer is yes, genius." Tyler took him by the hand and led him to the couch, flopping down on cushions still partially stained with cum and ketchup and whatever else Josh associated with his visits.

It was almost surreal, spending Christmas tucked under Tyler’s arm like it was no big deal. But it _was_ a big deal; even Tyler seemed to recognize that, because they weren’t even halfway through Rudolph when he glanced down at Josh and said, “Be honest, dude: when you opened the door and saw me, what was your first thought?"

That was all it took for Josh’s stomach to turn into a washing machine, but rather than laundry getting tossed around it was his intestines. “I don't even remember. I'm still kinda in shock."

"Good shock?" Tyler’s voice was unreadable. Josh hated it when he did that.

"Just shock."

Tyler hummed. There was a window of silence. And then Josh was opening his stupid mouth again.

"My sister thinks we shouldn't do this anymore."

A corpse wrought with rigor mortis, Tyler stiffened, and Josh fully expected him to say _do_ _what?_ Because despite being one of the smartest people Josh knew, he’d always been good at playing dumb.

But Tyler didn’t say that. No, he just shrugged kind of lame and said, “Say the word and we can stop."

"You don't get it,” Josh insisted, wiggling out from under Tyler’s arm so he could look him in the eye. Tyler looked back, eyebrows furrowed, caught somewhere between annoyance and helplessness.

"What don't I get?" Angry, almost. It was the anger that made Josh’s eyes get all hot and misty. It was the anger that made him choke out, “I _love_ you."

He didn’t really expect Tyler to say the same, because he had only ever offered up some weak variation: _you're_ _cute_. _I_ _miss_ _you_. _Send_ _me_ _a_ _dick_ _pic_.

Christmas or not, tonight was no different - Tyler avoided the L word entirely, opting to grab Josh’s hand; squeeze it tight. “Josh- Josh, look at me. It's Christmas. Tell me what you want. If you want me to leave, I'll leave. If you want me to stay, I'll stay."

Josh’s eyes were round and shiny like the moon. “You'll... you'll stay?"

Tyler nodded.

"For how long?"

Tyler shrugged for the second time that night, but this was a passionate kind of shrug. “However long you want me to."

"You should only stay if you really want to,” Josh croaked, because surely Tyler was lying through his teeth to appease him. Surely a steady relationship was the last thing what he wanted.

Surely he wasn’t serious when he brought Josh’s hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles, mumbling _I_ _want_ _to_ against his skin.

Something about the way Tyler pulled Josh into his lap three seconds later reminded him of the countless dreams he’d had about this exact moment: Tyler squeezing him, Tyler holding him, Tyler leaving open-mouthed kisses on his neck. And between each kiss, between each whine that spilled hot and tender from Josh’s mouth, he whispered the words _I’m_ _staying_.

He was staying.

"Sorry for not bringing you a gift, by the way,” Tyler apologized after leaning back to catch his breath (and admire the hickeys already beginning to blossom across Josh’s sweet throat). “I was gonna grab something from one of those airport shops but I didn't wanna seem cheap."

"That's okay,” Josh assured him with a fond little half-smile, sleepy and safe and so in love. “This is enough."

Tyler was going to kill him one day.

**Author's Note:**

> @21bastards on tumblr!! come say hi


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